*I* am definitely not a member of the Kindle cult.
I do not have one, for a start.
I do not live in USA, so Amazon does not want my money.
I perceive the Kindle with mixed feelings.
I am glad that there is finally an ebook reader that is going to take the world by storm. Perhaps the publishers will stop ignoring the world of ebooks
I personally do not consider the look of the device important. The quality of display, price, features and ergonomy of use are much, much more important to me. And ... I do not even consider Kindle to be ugly or even bad-looking. You should see some of my computers. The more they resemble something contrived by Dr. Frankenstein the cooler they look to me
On the other hand there is the proprietary lock-down of the device that I DO dislike, just like I pointed out in several other threads.
Overall I see more positive things than negative about Kindle.